Medium and heavy duty vehicles, as well as some light duty pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles, are commonly built using the basic and longstanding design of a vehicle frame supporting a separate body, running gear, and powertrain. Often, during the process of manufacturing the vehicle certain components, such as battery boxes, fuel tank assemblies, fluid reservoirs, and exhaust supports are attached to the vehicle frame subsequent to its assembly. These components may even be added following installation of the running gear and powertrain, such that it is important that the vehicle undergoing construction remain upright. Because of this, and because the components to be attached to the vehicle frame are usually quite heavy, various techniques have been devised to assist in their installation.
Examples of techniques or devises used to temporarily support components to be attached to a vehicle frame during the process of installation include powered lifts or hoists, or fixtures either attached to the vehicle frame or located along the vehicle assembly line. Alternately, smaller brackets, referred to as alignment brackets, are sometimes first attached to the vehicle frame, and followed by attaching the heavier components to the alignment brackets. These alignment brackets may be provided with features that allow the heavier components to remain in place prior to installation and tightening of any fasteners. It is even known to use one or more shoulder bolts in conjunction with keyhole features located in the component to be attached to the vehicle frame, such that the keyhole is placed over the shoulder bolt and the component is left hanging thereupon, until such time as any fasteners may be installed and tightened.
Each of the prior art techniques or devises have one or more drawbacks. Powered lifts or hoists are expensive and add operator time to the cost of manufacturing the vehicle. Fixtures similarly must be designed, built, handled, maintained, removed, and stored, each of which activities add to the cost of the vehicle being manufactured. Alignment brackets add considerably to the cost of manufacturing a vehicle having a vehicle frame, as they add the cost of usually at least two additional pieces, including the associated manufacturing, engineering, and logistics costs. Also, alignment brackets add to stack-up of manufacturing tolerances and increase the number of potentially fallible joints in the assembly.